Penny Black

Before The Penny Black Stamp

Before the official Penny Black postage stamp, a postal system had been in place since 1510 for the King's Post, with the General Post Office established in London in 1710. The postage back then depended on the distance travelled and the weight of the package. It costs 4 pence for a distance of less than 15 miles, with the price increasing up to 12 pence for 300 miles. Unfortunately, it was a very expensive commodity to be used by the common populace, sometimes costing a full day's wage just to send a letter.

The postal system also had some very strange (by today's standards) and costly "mistakes". First, the mail was to be paid for by the receiver, much like today's COD mail. However, as you can imagine, receivers were often reluctant to pay for certain mail, seeing as how it costs so much. Hence, it costs the post office considerable amounts of money just to collect the sum for the delivery. Additionally, mail such as newspapers were delivered free of charge, with the costs added to the postage for the commoner.

Apparantly, there have been various suggestions of an adhesive postage stamp throughout Greece, Austria, and Sweden, but non garnered enough support to make it official.